EP #12: Exploring the Intricacies of Cataracts and their Indicators

Ever wondered why those LED headlights seem to glare more than they used to? Or why you're squinting against sunlight even through your trusted sunglasses? It's time to unwind these mysteries and more as we demystify the term 'cataracts'. Join us, Dr. Laura Falco and Jeremy Wolf, on the Jazzy Eyes podcast as we navigate the cloudy waters of cataracts, and illuminate how they're an inevitable part of the aging process, much like grey hairs and wrinkles.

As we uncover this phenomenon, we discuss the early warning signs - from glare at night to difficulties in broad daylight. We reveal how your regular eye checks can help detect these symptoms early, and why a comprehensive eye examination is crucial. As cataracts progress, your simple prescriptions fail to sharpen your vision. When this happens, we highlight the need for a surgical intervention. So, don't miss out on this enlightening episode, whether you're concerned about your eye health or just intrigued about the aging process. Let's clear the haze together on the Jazzy Eyes podcast.

For more information visit: JazzyEyes.com

or contact: (954) 473-0100

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. Taking care of your vision with expert precision. Here's your host, dr Laura Falco.

Jeremy: 0:15

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Jazzy Eyes podcast. I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolfe, and I'm joined by your host, Dr Laura Falco. Dr Falco, good to see you again.

Dr. Falco: 0:26

Good to see you too.

Jeremy: 0:27

We're on the heels of Thanksgiving. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family. We're here on Cyber Monday. Yes, get excited. It's holiday time, time to buy a bunch of gifts for Christmas and all that fun stuff. Get excited, get excited. Today. I know that you wanted to talk about cataracts. If most people are like me, cataracts is a term that they've heard before, but if asked to provide a definition of what it actually is, I think most people would have a hard time doing so. Why don't you start off by telling everybody what cataracts are, and then we could talk a little bit about some of the various symptoms and things of that nature?

Dr. Falco: 1:17

Yes, cataracts are a normal part of aging. They're just like getting wrinkles and getting gray hairs. Cataract is a normal aging process of the lens inside the eye. When we're born, our lens is typically super crystal clear. As we age the lens starts to become not so clear, a little hazy, and then as we become older 60s, 70s, typically at that age and people develop differently, we start to develop a real clouding of the lens in the eye and that is a normal part of aging and it's a cataract. So most of my patients, the first couple of things they will complain about, is a glare at night. I mean, these headlights are ridiculous. These new LED headlights are really hard for everybody. But when the lens in your eye is cloudy, that super high energy light really does create a ton of glare. So my patients originally will say I just can't see at night anymore. That's a very typical first complaint Trouble at night because less light is getting to your retina, because the lens in your eye is cloudy. So patients will complain of glare and especially halos at night.

Jeremy: 2:41

OK, that makes sense. So, and I'm trying to, as you're saying this, I'm thinking am I experiencing these symptoms? Hopefully not. I know you just gave me a. Is this something that I'd imagine? That through a routine eye check, you can start to see these things developing? And I'm good, I'm good, right, you would have mentioned something to me. You're good, I'm still young.

Dr. Falco: 3:07

So as part of a comprehensive eye examination, I dilate the pupils, and everyone loves that. Nobody really wants to get their eyes dilated ever.

Jeremy: 3:17

But I don't mind.

Dr. Falco: 3:19

This is one of the things that we really cannot see without a dilated eye exam. There's no retinal cameras that image the back of the eye through a small pupil. You can't see the lens. So if you really want to evaluate if somebody's starting cataracts or how much their cataract is progressing, the eyes have to be dilated. And I do want to add to like after patients start to experience the nighttime glare difficulty in the dark, the halos at night will progress to.

Dr. Falco: 3:50

When it's super, super bright out, it's also very hard to see because if you think about the lens in your eye that the light's passing through is becoming harder and harder to see through. The super bright light during the day also creates glare. So sometimes you know, first we start with nighttime glare, that's typical Then we go with daytime glare and then, when the cataracts continue to progress, we start to have a decrease in vision, which means that even with my very best prescription for you, I cannot get you to see 2020 anymore, because the blur and is coming from inside the lens. It's becoming opacified, it's no longer clear, it's hazy, it's white. It's a little glass's lens that can fix that. So that's at that point. We are now going to talk about referrals to a surgeon to have cataract surgery, where they remove the lens and put in an implant.

Jeremy: 4:52

That was actually going to be my next question what to do when you know the situation can't be treated through normal means and you need to actually go seek a referral to get surgery. So why don't we pick that up in another segment and we will go from there? So we will see you on the next segment. Perfect, all right.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Thank you for listening to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. For more information, visit JazzyEyescom or contact 954-473-0100.